RAPID GAMMA-RAY FLUX VARIABILITY DURING THE 2013 MARCH CRAB NEBULA FLARE
- Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron DESY, D-15738 Zeuthen (Germany)
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)
- Space Science Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375-5352 (United States)
- Catholic University of America, Washington, DC 20064 (United States)
- W. W. Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory, Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Department of Physics and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 (United States)
We report on a bright flare in the Crab Nebula detected by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. The period of significantly increased luminosity occurred in 2013 March and lasted for approximately two weeks. During this period, we observed flux variability on timescales of approximately 5 hr. The combined photon flux above 100 MeV from the pulsar and its nebula reached a peak value of (12.5 ± 0.8) · 10{sup –6} cm{sup –2} s{sup –1} on 2013 March 6. This value exceeds the average flux by almost a factor of six and implies a ∼20 times higher flux for the synchrotron component of the nebula alone. This is the second brightest flare observed from this source. Spectral and temporal analysis of the LAT data collected during the outburst reveal a rapidly varying synchrotron component of the Crab Nebula while the pulsar emission remains constant in time.
- OSTI ID:
- 22215447
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 775, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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